Nokia has been selected by Brazilian elelctricity distributor Elektro to deploy a private LTE network to power its smart grid, smart meters, and electric vehicles in the municipality of Atibaia, in the state of Sao Paulo in southeast Brazil.

The ‘smart grid’ project will streamline operations and reduce costs for Elektro, part of the Neoenergia group, by increasing grid reliability by up to 50 per cent and reducing commercial losses by up to 80 per cent, said Nokia.

The new network, the first private LTE network in south America for grid automation, provide connectivity for grid equipment, smart meters, substations and distributed energy generation sources throughout the service area, enabling grid automation through real-time exchange of information between these devices and Elektro’s operations centre in Campinas.

More than 75,000 customers will be able to shift consumption patterns to save money, said Nokia. Power outages will be corrected more quickly. The deployment, in the 3.5 GHz band, also pave the way for distributed power, photovoltaic generation, and electric vehicles. It will be upgraded to 5G in due course, said Nokia.

Nokia will supply a solution composed of its AirScale single radio network (SRAN), which includes base stations, enhanced packet core, and customer premises equipment. Nokia’s services arm will deliver and manage the network, including design, deployment, operation, maintenance, construction and training.

Mario Ruiz-Tagle, president of Neoenergia, said: “Neoenergia is committed to sustainable development and the full digitalisation of its networks. The project in Atibaia is a pioneering effort, and will deliver increased power efficiency to bring both increased quality and cost savings to our customers.

“As important, this deployment will enable the introduction of distributed power resources in the future, such as photovoltaic generation and electric vehicles, while providing the required communications for our transformation to new business models.”

Osvaldo Di Campli, head of Nokia in Latin America, said: “This private LTE deployment will provide the large-scale connectivity, extensive coverage and high-bandwidth service needed for Elektro to extend the reach of its network out into their distribution grid, making the grid much smarter.

“This future-proof solution will also provide an evolution path to 5G technology in the future, which will offer an array of additional capabilities to keep pace with the fast-evolving utility market.”

James Blackman

James Blackman has been writing about the technology and telecoms sectors for over a decade. He has edited and contributed to a number of European news outlets and trade titles. He has also worked at telecoms company Huawei, leading media activity for its devices business in Western Europe. He is based in London.